Quote:
Originally Posted by crmalcolm
Ferrari from 1997
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Didn't McLaren take pole position by over 1 second at Melbourne 1998, with the McLaren style of car quickly becoming the preferred type of design for the narrow track, grooved tyre era? Much of the 1999 grid seemingly being McLaren clones...
Of course Ferrari battled well, and didn't look back between 2001 and 2004, apart from 2003 when the Michelin tyres were often superior. (Obviously in 2005, the Michelin tyres were far superior and Ferrari had no chance at all, before mounting an unsuccessful challenge to Renault in 2006.)
Possibly it was Ferrari who advocated for the beryllium ban that set Mercedes-Ilmor engines back considerably, on the basis of health concerns and because Ferrari's own attempts with the material did not go well. Seemingly this was a wise choice by Ferrari as it both reduced the power output of the rival Mercedes engines and also made them unreliable.
